http://www.esvbible.org/Luke+12/
All in eleven verses, Jesus brings in some of the scariest warnings and greatest encouragements that I think I've read in the Bible. He warns against the way of the Pharisees because they are hypocrites. Jesus and the Pharisees never got along because while the Pharisees were religious leaders and outwardly did everything right, their hearts were focused on themselves and pleasing themselves, which is not right. The focus of worship is all about focusing on God. The Pharisees did not like being called out like this, so they condemned Jesus. In this passage, Jesus warns against their hypocrisy because He says that all hidden things will be revealed. You cannot hide what you say, do, or even think from Jesus. And on the day of Judgement, He will reveal all the things, good and bad, that you have done out in the open. Jesus knows even the things about us that we hid from ourselves. Taking it a step further, Jesus says there is no need to fear the people who can kill you; thus, destroying the body because Jesus has the power on Judgement Day to throw you into Hell after your body has been killed. Then, comes the encouragement. Jesus says that five sparrows cost two pennies, but God knows each of the sparrows, and that despite what He said before, we are worth more, individually, than many sparrows. It's importnat to note that sparrows were used in ancient Judaism as sacrifices to pay for sins. And Jesus says that God remembers each sparrow killed. He declares that God has numbered the hairs on our head. That is the intimacy to which He knows us. Then, there are some more warnings to heed. If you publicly acknowledge Jesus, then He will acknowledge you before the angels, but if you disown Him when you are out in public, no matter how devout you may claim to be at home or in church, Jesus will disown you. Additionally, if you speak a word against Jesus, you can receive forgiveness but not if you speak against the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the only one who can save but since He is no longer on Earth, He can only save through the Holy Spirit, who is on Earth. If you blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, He will be unable to help you repent, which is necessary to salvation. The final encouragement Jesus offers here is that we should not worry about how we will defend ourselves in the face of religious persecution because the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say when the time comes. This can be seen very clearly in Acts when Steven defends himself.
A man in the crowd shouted out that Jesus should tell the man's brother to divide the inheritance with him. After all, who wouldn't listen to the Son of God getting in your face with a crowd of people. In the man's mind, he probably thought Jesus would do it because it would show generosity but Jesus could see the greed in the man's heart that prompted this, so He told a parable. In the parable, a rich man receives a huge harvest one year, so he builds bigger barns and stores away for many years, but God comes to him that night and tells him his life will be demanded from him. Then, who gets all of the grain? If you focus on building riches for yourself in the world, you can't build up the riches in heaven that you will need. You can't take the treasures of this world with you, so why let greed for these things consume you?
Jesus then takes it a step further, as He often does, and tells the people that they should not worry about the riches of this world. The birds don't worry about what they will eat, and they survive, yet people are worth more than birds. Then, there's the flowers. They are more beautiful than any clothes ever made, and people are worth way more than flowers. Worrying is not worth the time, and it won't add time to your life. Even the pagans worry about the things of this world. God created humans, and He knows what we need. Leave it to Him to provide. God provides so well, in fact, that He will give us His entire kingdom, so we should sell our possessions and give to the poor. Make money for ourselves that will never expire or outlive its worth. It will be safe in Heaven where no thief can steal it and nothing can destroy it. Luke 12:34 is a hugely important verse. If you focus on building up a worldly treasure, that is what is most important in your life. Getting more makes you want even more, so it will eventually consume you. If you focus on storing things up in Heaven, then you will have a greater desire to keep doing so. Not only will this cleanse your heart, and improve your character, but it will even improve the world. Additionally, it will be harder for the things of this world to shake your faith because you will be so grounded in the things of God. The things of this world will have little value in your heart.
The next passage has a lot of good material. Jesus tells a sort of commanding parable that we should be ready with lamps on like servants waiting for their master after a party. The master will be home late, but He will have more to ask of the servants before they are dismissed. Furthermore, the master could come and tell the servants that He will serve them. They wouldn't want to miss that. The master will be very pleased if He finds the servants awaiting His return even if it is very late or even close to the next morning. Then, Jesus sort of changes parables for the same example. He says that if the owner of a house knew when the thief was coming, the thief would never have broken in. In the same way, we must always be prepared because we don't know when Jesus will return. He goes on to say that a master who puts a servant over all of the other servants will only be pleased if He returns to find the servant doing as he's been instructed; however, if the master is gone long, and the servant in charge begins beating the other servants, the master will severely punish him. Here is the key paragraph. If someone knows the will of the Master, and does not do what the master desires, He will be beaten with many blows. On the other hand, a servant who does not know the will and still does not do what is right, will only be beaten with few blows. The punishment for those who don't do what they know God wants them to do will be greater than those who do not know the will of God. We serve a God of mercy, and in this case He mercifully lightens the punishment He must serve to those sinners who never had the chance to know Him. There is a burden in God giving us much because the more He gives us, the more He will require from us. The more we have, the more He expects us to give of ourselves. The blessings God provides us with will not only help us but those whom we serve as well.
Jesus says that He did not come to the world to bring peace but to divide it. Just as He says that people will hate His followers because of Him. The world will divide between those who follow Jesus and those who don't. Because we must fight wholeheartedly for those who do not yet have salvation, we may also have to fight them for a time. We must put our duty to God before anything, even our own families.
Jesus says the people are hypocrites because while they know how to interpret the signs in the sky to predict the weather, they also go complaining to someone else to interpret what is right or wrong. God has given us everything we need to do this ourselves, especially through the Holy Spirit. We must make our own reconciliations when we do wrong against someone or we will have to pay the full price of what we have done. This is especially important for when we sin against God because the punishment we will have to serve is an eternity of damnation.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Luke 11
http://www.esvbible.org/Luke+11/
One day, while Jesus prayed, as He often did and as we should often do, Him disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray, and this is where the Lord's prayer comes from. This can be used as a good template on how to pray. Give praise and thanks to God, then ask Him for what you NEED inb the Spirit, seek renewed forgiveness because we all know how much we always struggle with sin. Even as Jesus teaches the disciples to pray, He teaches them to forgive. God's forgiveness to us is not contingent on our forgiveness to others, but why should God cover us in the blood of His Son to forgive us and redeem us from death if we will not forgive other people when they sin against us? Jesus then moves on saying that if you went to a friend and asked him for bread at midnight because you have a visitor and nothing to feed him, your friend will surely get up and give you what you need because you have asked. What is unspoken here is the other side of that--if you do not ask, your friend cannot give to you because he does not know that you are in need. Even though God knows all, He still waits for us to ask for what we need. Then, Jesus asks the disciples if they had a son who asked for a fish, if they would give him a snake. And if we, as inherently evil people since the fall, can provide for our children the things of this world that they need, how much more can the Father provide for us? Jesus says aks and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. You have to put forth the effort, but God will richly provide for you once you do. We expect God to provide for us without communicating our needs to Him.
In the next story, Jesus drives a demon out of a mute man and says some pretty ridiculously crazy things when He's accused of being Beelzebul, or Satan. Jesus starts by poking holes in their logic--why would Satan drive out his own demons? Jesus uses their disbelief to encourage them because, as He says, if He drives demons out by the power of God then that means the presence of God is with the people. Jesus' example is that of the Devil, who truly is quite strong, can grasp control of the hearts of unbelievers and hold down their hearts, but someone stronger, Jesus, can come along and usurp the Devil from hearts and turn those hearts to Himself. Then, Jesus makes a very bold statement: whoever is not with Jesus is against Him. There is no middle ground. Your heart is either filled with the Holy Spirit of God or with a demon from Satan. You either have obtained your salvation or you will go to hell. Jesus then tells of what happens to a demon He expels from a person. It seeks a place in the desert, but it cannot find rest there, so it returns to the place it once called home. If it finds the place merely swept clean, meaning only some of the outward sins have ceased, but the Spirit does not dwell there to truly clean up the mess in the person's heart to change them for the better, then the demon will return with other, even stronger demons to reclaim its home, and the person is worse off than at the start. Let me rephrase: if Jesus stirs you in your heart towards Himself, but you refuse to move and repent to accept your Salvation, then there's nothing more He can do, and the devil, who claimed you before, will return to reclaim you with an even stronger grip. Jesus will reach out to you with your Salvation in your reach, but you have to receive it and accept it and use it, or nothing will improve. A woman in the crowd cries out blessed is the woman who birthed Jesus, and Jesus replies that instead, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and obey it.
Jesus condemns those who hear and do not listen. He says those are from a wicked generation. They require signs to believe. So many people up to today ask for signs that Jesus really is Lord. Jesus says they will receive the sign of Jonah because Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites. He was spit up on their shores by a great whale telling the people that they needed to repent or God would destroy the city, and they did so then and there. The next example Jesus gives is the Queen form the East who went to hear the wisdom that Solomon obtained from the Lord. Now, we have heard even greater wisdom. Then, looking back at Nineveh--if they repented because of what Jonah preached, shouldn't more people be more likely to repent with the Son of God preaching?
Jesus compares the eye to a lamp in a house, but for modern technology's sake, let's say a lightbulb. You don't screw in a lightbulb and put the fixture in a cabinet. Instead, you put it out where the light will fill the room. In the same way, the eye is like a lamp to our hearts. When your eyes are healthy, the body is full of light, and you can see clearly to fix your eyes upon Jesus. If your vision, however, is cloudy, like dirty windows, your heart will be full of darkness. Certain sins can distort our Spiritual vision such as jealousy and hatred because then your eyes are fixed on something other than Jesus, and outside of Jesus, who is the light, there is only darkness.
In the last story in this chapter, Jesus makes some powerful religious leaders quite angry with what He says. He goes to eat with a Pharisee who is surprised that Jesus did not wash up before the meal. Jesus begins condemning the Pharisees because they are so concerned with their outward appearances and how they look to others that they let their hearts harden, leading to evil and wickedness. These were the top religious leaders in Jesus' time. Jesus condemns them for giving for all the wrong reasons. The heart and should be generous when giving not hungry for attention. Finally, an expert of the Law speaks up and says that by insulting the Pharisees, Jesus is insulting the experts of the Law as well, so Jesus turns His attention to the experts of the Law. He condemns them for needlessly laying burdens on the people but offering no help on howe to lighten the load. He condemns them because they build tombs to the prophets for being such great speakers of what God spoke, yet they ho9nor their ancestors who killed the prophets. Jesus says that this generation will be responsible for the deaths of all of the prophets because when all the prophecies came true, the people refuse to believe it even to this day. This responsibility starts all the way back with the murder of Abel. He condemns the experts of the Law for learning what it takes to enter the kingdom of God and not only ignoring what they need to do but keeping other people from doing it as well. When Jesus finished saying all of this, He left, and the Pharisees along with the experts of the Law followed Him trying to trap Him in what He said, but they could not for two reasons. First, everything Jesus said was true because he knows the true state of every person's heart. Second, it was not time for JEsus to die yet, so the Pharisees could not kill Him.
One day, while Jesus prayed, as He often did and as we should often do, Him disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray, and this is where the Lord's prayer comes from. This can be used as a good template on how to pray. Give praise and thanks to God, then ask Him for what you NEED inb the Spirit, seek renewed forgiveness because we all know how much we always struggle with sin. Even as Jesus teaches the disciples to pray, He teaches them to forgive. God's forgiveness to us is not contingent on our forgiveness to others, but why should God cover us in the blood of His Son to forgive us and redeem us from death if we will not forgive other people when they sin against us? Jesus then moves on saying that if you went to a friend and asked him for bread at midnight because you have a visitor and nothing to feed him, your friend will surely get up and give you what you need because you have asked. What is unspoken here is the other side of that--if you do not ask, your friend cannot give to you because he does not know that you are in need. Even though God knows all, He still waits for us to ask for what we need. Then, Jesus asks the disciples if they had a son who asked for a fish, if they would give him a snake. And if we, as inherently evil people since the fall, can provide for our children the things of this world that they need, how much more can the Father provide for us? Jesus says aks and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. You have to put forth the effort, but God will richly provide for you once you do. We expect God to provide for us without communicating our needs to Him.
In the next story, Jesus drives a demon out of a mute man and says some pretty ridiculously crazy things when He's accused of being Beelzebul, or Satan. Jesus starts by poking holes in their logic--why would Satan drive out his own demons? Jesus uses their disbelief to encourage them because, as He says, if He drives demons out by the power of God then that means the presence of God is with the people. Jesus' example is that of the Devil, who truly is quite strong, can grasp control of the hearts of unbelievers and hold down their hearts, but someone stronger, Jesus, can come along and usurp the Devil from hearts and turn those hearts to Himself. Then, Jesus makes a very bold statement: whoever is not with Jesus is against Him. There is no middle ground. Your heart is either filled with the Holy Spirit of God or with a demon from Satan. You either have obtained your salvation or you will go to hell. Jesus then tells of what happens to a demon He expels from a person. It seeks a place in the desert, but it cannot find rest there, so it returns to the place it once called home. If it finds the place merely swept clean, meaning only some of the outward sins have ceased, but the Spirit does not dwell there to truly clean up the mess in the person's heart to change them for the better, then the demon will return with other, even stronger demons to reclaim its home, and the person is worse off than at the start. Let me rephrase: if Jesus stirs you in your heart towards Himself, but you refuse to move and repent to accept your Salvation, then there's nothing more He can do, and the devil, who claimed you before, will return to reclaim you with an even stronger grip. Jesus will reach out to you with your Salvation in your reach, but you have to receive it and accept it and use it, or nothing will improve. A woman in the crowd cries out blessed is the woman who birthed Jesus, and Jesus replies that instead, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and obey it.
Jesus condemns those who hear and do not listen. He says those are from a wicked generation. They require signs to believe. So many people up to today ask for signs that Jesus really is Lord. Jesus says they will receive the sign of Jonah because Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites. He was spit up on their shores by a great whale telling the people that they needed to repent or God would destroy the city, and they did so then and there. The next example Jesus gives is the Queen form the East who went to hear the wisdom that Solomon obtained from the Lord. Now, we have heard even greater wisdom. Then, looking back at Nineveh--if they repented because of what Jonah preached, shouldn't more people be more likely to repent with the Son of God preaching?
Jesus compares the eye to a lamp in a house, but for modern technology's sake, let's say a lightbulb. You don't screw in a lightbulb and put the fixture in a cabinet. Instead, you put it out where the light will fill the room. In the same way, the eye is like a lamp to our hearts. When your eyes are healthy, the body is full of light, and you can see clearly to fix your eyes upon Jesus. If your vision, however, is cloudy, like dirty windows, your heart will be full of darkness. Certain sins can distort our Spiritual vision such as jealousy and hatred because then your eyes are fixed on something other than Jesus, and outside of Jesus, who is the light, there is only darkness.
In the last story in this chapter, Jesus makes some powerful religious leaders quite angry with what He says. He goes to eat with a Pharisee who is surprised that Jesus did not wash up before the meal. Jesus begins condemning the Pharisees because they are so concerned with their outward appearances and how they look to others that they let their hearts harden, leading to evil and wickedness. These were the top religious leaders in Jesus' time. Jesus condemns them for giving for all the wrong reasons. The heart and should be generous when giving not hungry for attention. Finally, an expert of the Law speaks up and says that by insulting the Pharisees, Jesus is insulting the experts of the Law as well, so Jesus turns His attention to the experts of the Law. He condemns them for needlessly laying burdens on the people but offering no help on howe to lighten the load. He condemns them because they build tombs to the prophets for being such great speakers of what God spoke, yet they ho9nor their ancestors who killed the prophets. Jesus says that this generation will be responsible for the deaths of all of the prophets because when all the prophecies came true, the people refuse to believe it even to this day. This responsibility starts all the way back with the murder of Abel. He condemns the experts of the Law for learning what it takes to enter the kingdom of God and not only ignoring what they need to do but keeping other people from doing it as well. When Jesus finished saying all of this, He left, and the Pharisees along with the experts of the Law followed Him trying to trap Him in what He said, but they could not for two reasons. First, everything Jesus said was true because he knows the true state of every person's heart. Second, it was not time for JEsus to die yet, so the Pharisees could not kill Him.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Luke 10
http://www.esvbible.org/Luke+10/
Jesus sent out seventy-two of His followers to nearby towns telling them that their is plenty to be harvested but few workers to harvest. There is an overwhelming number of people who do not know Christ and an unbelievable amount that have never even heard the name of Jesus. One of the reasons this continues is because the followers of Christ do not go forth proclaiming the name and wonders of Jesus. The seventy-two are to take nothing with them. Jesus gives them very specific instructions for when they go. He tells them to enter a town, and find a house to stay at. Once the enter, they should ask God for peace over the house, and if the people who live in the house accept peace, they will receive it from God, but if they reject it, the peace will go back to the giver. This principle goes back to both if you ask you shall receive and if you reject God, God will reject you. Jesus instructs them to take what is given to them as their wages but not to move from house to house. If the town accepts them, they should proclaim the gospel and heal the sick. If the town rejects them, they should declare that they are even shaking the dust of the town from their sandals as a warning because the Kingsom of God is coming. Jesus tells the people that these towns will be worse off than Sodom. These towns at least have a chance to repent and turn from their wicked ways. Jesus warns the towns that have seen miracles and still reject God. With assuring words, Jesus tells the seventy-two whoever listens to them listens to Jesus. Whoever rejects them rejects Jesus and by extension, God. It's not about you when you proclaim the Good News. It's all about Jesus. If the people you talk to accept what you say, glory be to Jesus. Don't take the glory for yourself. The seventy-two return to Jesus overjoyed because even the demons submitted to the name of Jesus. With great authority, Jesus replies that He has seen Satan fall and given power to those who follow Him that nothing shall stand against them. Yet they should not boast that they can tame the enemy but that their names are written in heaven. Remember what you are here for and what the eventual goal is. Then Jesus, overcome by the Spirit prays. He says that He is glad the Father has revealed His truths to the children of faith. Yet the wise have not seen them. Those who thought they knew all about God did not seek the truths. It is the children eager to learn who sought the character of God. Only the Son truly knows the Father and vice versa. There are so many mysteries that people on Earth still do not know about. Jesus tells His disciples privately that many great prophets and kings had wished to see what the disciples see, so they should not take it for granted.
A man who knew the law well tested Jesus by asking Him what people need to do to receive eternal life. Jesus responded as He often does by asking another question. He asked the expert of the law how he reads it. The man replies that it says love The Lord with all your heart, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus tells the man that is correct. To clarify, the man asks Jesus who His neighbors are. Jesus responds with a parable, which is a fictional story used to serve a purpose. In this parable, a Jewish man is walking along the road where he is robbed and beaten. Three men pass along the road. The first is a priest. The priest does not help the man but walks by on the other side of the road. Then, a Levite, another religious figure, comes and reacts in the same way. Finally, a Samaritan, the enemy race of the Jews, stops, and, moved by compassion, goes to the man to rescue him. He takes the man to an inn and covers all of the expenses and says if the man costs more, he will come back and make up for them. Jesus asks the expert of the law who the neighbor to the beaten man was, and the expert correctly responds that the Samaritan was. Jesus tells all listening to go and do accordingly. The priest and the Levite weren't bad people. They were very good, religious people, but they got so caught up in their next religios activity that they missed out on an opportunity that God set before them. The Samaritan had compassion, and since compassion requires action, went to the man to help.
Jesus goes to stay with Mary and Martha. Martha busies herself with the preparations needed for a guest, especially when the gust is the Messaiah. Mary, meanwhile, sits at Jesus' feet and listens to Him. After a time, Martha, upset at her sister, complains to Jesus and asks that He command Mary to help. Jesus responds that Martha is worried over many things, but the only thing needed is Jesus. Mary has chosen the better thing. Sometimes we get so caught up in making things nice for Jesus, that we leave Him out. We busy ourselves fretting over what He thinks of us but miss what He says to us. Sometimes, we need to take a breath and sit at His feet.
Jesus sent out seventy-two of His followers to nearby towns telling them that their is plenty to be harvested but few workers to harvest. There is an overwhelming number of people who do not know Christ and an unbelievable amount that have never even heard the name of Jesus. One of the reasons this continues is because the followers of Christ do not go forth proclaiming the name and wonders of Jesus. The seventy-two are to take nothing with them. Jesus gives them very specific instructions for when they go. He tells them to enter a town, and find a house to stay at. Once the enter, they should ask God for peace over the house, and if the people who live in the house accept peace, they will receive it from God, but if they reject it, the peace will go back to the giver. This principle goes back to both if you ask you shall receive and if you reject God, God will reject you. Jesus instructs them to take what is given to them as their wages but not to move from house to house. If the town accepts them, they should proclaim the gospel and heal the sick. If the town rejects them, they should declare that they are even shaking the dust of the town from their sandals as a warning because the Kingsom of God is coming. Jesus tells the people that these towns will be worse off than Sodom. These towns at least have a chance to repent and turn from their wicked ways. Jesus warns the towns that have seen miracles and still reject God. With assuring words, Jesus tells the seventy-two whoever listens to them listens to Jesus. Whoever rejects them rejects Jesus and by extension, God. It's not about you when you proclaim the Good News. It's all about Jesus. If the people you talk to accept what you say, glory be to Jesus. Don't take the glory for yourself. The seventy-two return to Jesus overjoyed because even the demons submitted to the name of Jesus. With great authority, Jesus replies that He has seen Satan fall and given power to those who follow Him that nothing shall stand against them. Yet they should not boast that they can tame the enemy but that their names are written in heaven. Remember what you are here for and what the eventual goal is. Then Jesus, overcome by the Spirit prays. He says that He is glad the Father has revealed His truths to the children of faith. Yet the wise have not seen them. Those who thought they knew all about God did not seek the truths. It is the children eager to learn who sought the character of God. Only the Son truly knows the Father and vice versa. There are so many mysteries that people on Earth still do not know about. Jesus tells His disciples privately that many great prophets and kings had wished to see what the disciples see, so they should not take it for granted.
A man who knew the law well tested Jesus by asking Him what people need to do to receive eternal life. Jesus responded as He often does by asking another question. He asked the expert of the law how he reads it. The man replies that it says love The Lord with all your heart, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus tells the man that is correct. To clarify, the man asks Jesus who His neighbors are. Jesus responds with a parable, which is a fictional story used to serve a purpose. In this parable, a Jewish man is walking along the road where he is robbed and beaten. Three men pass along the road. The first is a priest. The priest does not help the man but walks by on the other side of the road. Then, a Levite, another religious figure, comes and reacts in the same way. Finally, a Samaritan, the enemy race of the Jews, stops, and, moved by compassion, goes to the man to rescue him. He takes the man to an inn and covers all of the expenses and says if the man costs more, he will come back and make up for them. Jesus asks the expert of the law who the neighbor to the beaten man was, and the expert correctly responds that the Samaritan was. Jesus tells all listening to go and do accordingly. The priest and the Levite weren't bad people. They were very good, religious people, but they got so caught up in their next religios activity that they missed out on an opportunity that God set before them. The Samaritan had compassion, and since compassion requires action, went to the man to help.
Jesus goes to stay with Mary and Martha. Martha busies herself with the preparations needed for a guest, especially when the gust is the Messaiah. Mary, meanwhile, sits at Jesus' feet and listens to Him. After a time, Martha, upset at her sister, complains to Jesus and asks that He command Mary to help. Jesus responds that Martha is worried over many things, but the only thing needed is Jesus. Mary has chosen the better thing. Sometimes we get so caught up in making things nice for Jesus, that we leave Him out. We busy ourselves fretting over what He thinks of us but miss what He says to us. Sometimes, we need to take a breath and sit at His feet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)